The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the alleged misselling of financial products by high street banks.
Simon Kirby
The Chancellor has meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) government ministers and (b) civil servants have failed to apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments before their appointment to posts outside Government in the last three years.
Matthew Hancock
Former Ministers and former civil servants are subject to rules that cover the acceptance of all outside appointments and employment after they leave public office. Information about which former Ministers and former civil servants have failed to consult ACoBA before taking up an appointment is not held. It is individuals’ own responsibility to ensure that they comply with the requirements of these rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Rebuck on 2016-02-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK economy of poor literacy skills on the part of 16–24 year-olds.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
There are a number of ways in which the Government assesses the impact of poor literacy on the economy.
On 28 January 2016, the OECD published its report ‘Building skills for all – a review of England’. The report was commissioned by BIS following the publication of the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills in 2013. Key findings from Building Skills for All are:
The BIS Research Paper 195 ‘Estimation of the labour market returns to qualifications gained in English Further Education’, published in December 2014, shows that there are higher returns to qualifications achieved at younger ages and that English (and maths) Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications provide an additional wage uplift for achievers of higher learning aims. Increased earnings and employment rates following training provide an indication of the positive impact on the economy of improving skills.
In 2012, when the PIAAC carried out the survey fieldwork for both reports, only 70% of 16-19 year olds were participating in education and training that leads to a formal qualification; compared to almost universal participation in some other OECD countries. Since then the participation age in England has been increased to age 18 and action has been taken to improve GCSE qualifications and raise standards in post-16 education. These reforms have been welcomed by the OECD in its latest report. .
Since changing the requirement for all learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 to continue to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 study programme, we have seen a positive effect on participation and attainment. In 2014/15, 97% of 16 to 19 year olds without GCSE A*-C English and/or maths attending an FE institution continued their study of these subjects. In 2015, for 17-year-olds and over, entries for English rose by 23% (30% for maths). As a result, last year there were over 4,000 more GCSE passes at grades A*-C in English by students aged 17 and over (7,500 more maths passes).
On 5 February 2016 we published a new report on the impact of poor English and maths from the perspective of employers. Some key findings are:
The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/poor-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-effect-on-employers
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to provide additional financial support for Jordan for the provision of (a) aid and (b) jobs for refugees in that country.
Justine Greening
The UK with other members of the international community agreed at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference a comprehensive approach to tackling the impact of the Syria conflict. This included continued humanitarian support in Jordan and a ‘Jordan Compact’ aimed at improving the investment climate and creating jobs for both Jordanians and refugees from Syria. Funding and implementation arrangements are currently being finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Attorney General, what recent steps the Government has taken to promote human rights in the UK and abroad.
Jeremy Wright
The Government has a strong record on human rights here and abroad. As examples, it brought forward the Modern Slavery Act seeking to protect some of the most vulnerable and exploited people in our society. It is one of the leading members of the UN Human Rights Council, tackling in particular sexual violence in conflict and we will support £10.6 million worth of human rights projects globally this financial year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to answer of 25 February 2016 to Question HL6120, which political parties have been invited to attend the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.
Matthew Hancock
The summit is a Government, not a party political matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what involvement UK armed forces have had with EU battle groups in the last three years; and how many UK armed forces personnel the Government has pledged to commit to those groups.
Mr Julian Brazier
The EU Battlegroup concept has Lead Nations on standby for six month periods. The UK was an EU Battlegroup Lead Nation from July to December 2013, and will be again from July to December 2016. The total number of UK personnel involved is 2,330. They remain under national control and direction at all times.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage BT to increase its commercial investments.
Matt Hancock
Nine out of ten homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband, but our goal is to make sure the UK builds the right infrastructure to maintain our position as a world-leading digital nation. BT has a big part to play in this.
The government supports Ofcom in the changes that it wants to see in relation to Openreach. A more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and boost investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.
We are encouraging BT to invest in high-quality broadband infrastructure and have brokered a deal between Openreach and the Home Builders Federation that will see fibre-based broadband offered to all new developments either for free or as part of a co-funded initiative. Additionally, Virgin and GTC have recently signed new deals in this area.
We are creating a favourable regulatory environment to incentivise commercial investment for BT and all Communications Providers. For example: we will reform the Electronic Communications Code, to support faster and more efficient infrastructure rollout and to encourage investment and growth in the UK digital industry; and we are making permanent a relaxation of the rules for deploying fixed broadband infrastructure originally introduced in 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring a local authority to keep publicly accessible lists of banned letting agents to prevent such agents from being able to operate in other local authority areas.
Gavin Barwell
The Housing & Planning Act 2016 contains a package of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords who exploit their tenants by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation. The measures include a database of rogue landlords and property agents who have been convicted of certain offences or received at least two civil penalties for a breach of housing legislation.
The database will enable local authorities to keep track of those landlords and property agents and target their enforcement action. Only DCLG and local housing authorities will be able to access the database, although the data will be made available publically in an anonymised format.
Access to the database is being restricted in this way for data protection reasons and because making the database publicly available would effectively blacklist all those individuals and companies on the database and prevent them from continuing to be involved in renting out or managing property, which is not the purpose of the database.
Where a local authority believes that a landlord or property agent should no longer be involved in the renting out or management of property, they will be able to seek a banning order from the First Tier Tribunal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-01-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how much will accrue to the Exchequer as a result of the Carbon Price Support legislation in each year until 2020.
Damian Hinds
The most recent forecast of receipts from the Carbon Price Floor was published by the OBR in their ‘Economic and fiscal outlook supplementary fiscal tables – November 2015’, available at http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-november-2015/.
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